This oatmeal chia pudding is an easy summer breakfast or snack made with just a handful of pantry staples! It's simple to meal prep in just a few minutes, thick and creamy, and particularly delicious topped with sweet fruit.
I've made this chia and oat pudding without yogurt to keep it dairy free, as well as being more suitable for low histamine readers.
Can't choose between overnight oats and chia pudding for your next breakfast? How about a fun mix of the two with this chia oatmeal pudding! Similarly to my blended chia pudding and chia and flaxseed pudding, all you need is a few pantry staples, and toppings of choice.
The best thing about this chia and oats pudding is just how simple it is to make. All you need is a container that can be sealed, and a good stir of the ingredients. So easy to prep for a hearty summer breakfast!
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⭐ Why This Recipe is So Good
Simple basic ingredients. I think you'll have the majority, or perhaps all, of these ingredients to hand!
Easy meal prep. Similarly to my overnight oats with flaxseed recipe, it really is just a case of stirring up your oats, chia seeds and other ingredients.
Versatile! Top your overnight chia oats with fruits, jam nut or seed butters or so many other toppings.
🥣 Ingredients
All the ingredients and their quantities are set out in the recipe card below.
Some notes on a few of them:
- Oats - I suggest to use old-fashioned rolled oats for this pudding, and gluten free oats if required.
- Chia seeds - I always use black chia seeds as they are easy to find in stores, but white chia can also be used.
- Plant milk - you can use the type of plant milk that works best for you.
- Cardamom - for a hint of spice. Cinnamon can also be used, but these are more debated in terms of histamine if you're a low histamine reader.
🍎 Ideas for Toppings
Personally I love having 'PB & J' vibes with some nut or seed butter and jam! Some ideas for toppings:
- Nut or seed butter. Choose from pumpkin seed butter, macadamia nut butter and others.
- Sweet jam, fruit coulis or compote. My cherry chia jam, apple and pear compote and mango coulis recipes are all easy to make!
- Nuts and seeds. Pumpkin seeds, Brazil nuts or macadamia are good, and there are more to choose from on my low histamine nuts and seeds overview.
- Fresh fruits. Blueberries, blackberries, redcurrants, apple or peaches add a nice sweetness.
- Coconut flakes. Easy to find in stores and always tasty.
- Granola. Add some crunch! Have a peek at my turmeric granola for a tasty recipe.
🔪 How to Make Chia Oatmeal Pudding
Making this chia and oats pudding is super simple, only requires pantry staples and there's no fancy kitchen equipment required!
All the instructions are in the recipe card below, but these step by step photos should help guide you.
Step 1: Combine ingredients
Combine rolled oats, chia seeds, plant milk, maple syrup and cardamom (or cinnamon) in a mason jar or container that can be sealed. I tend to use a glass tupperware dish (image 1).
Step 2: Stir together
Use a spoon or fork (I find a fork works better), and stir the oats and chia together so they are well soaked in the milk (image 2).
Step 3: Soak the oats and chia
Place the oatmeal chia pudding in the refrigerator for 2 hours, giving them a stir after 30 minutes to break up any clumps of chia seeds that have formed (image 3). Top with fruit, jam, nut butter or coconut flakes to preference.
Note: you can make these as overnight chia oats, but this may not be suitable for low histamine readers due to the potential for histamine formation.
💭 Recipe Tips and Notes
- Use rolled oats. Steel cut oats are too dense, and while you can use quick-cook oats, they will be more mushy in texture.
- Adjust the ingredient quantities. I've tested the quantities of the oats, chia and plant milk on a number of recipe tests, and this version gave the best creamy, but not too thick texture. But of course, you can add more oats to make it thicker, or more milk if you prefer a soupy texture.
- Give it a stir. Stirring the chia oat pudding after about 30 minutes helps with the texture as it breaks up clumps of chia seeds and distributes them through the oats and milk.
- Add more sweetness. If you have a sweet tooth, you can add more maple syrup.
📋 Frequently Asked Questions
No, you don't have to leave the pudding overnight. You can leave it in the fridge for 2 hours to soak the chia and oats. If you're particularly sensitive to histamine formation, then this may be too long for some readers and perhaps not the best option for you.
Steel cut oats don't work too well to make this chia and oat pudding as they are much more dense and take a long time to soak and become softer.
🍽 More Light Breakfast Ideas
You'll find lots of breakfast pudding ideas here, including my popular blended overnight oats, as well as these fun recipes:
I'm always in the kitchen, so come join me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to be the first to hear of new recipes! And I love to hear from you, so please do leave a star rating and comment if you've tried the recipe!
📖 Recipe
Oatmeal Chia Pudding
Equipment
- Mason jar or sealable container
Ingredients
- ½ cup rolled oats gluten free, if required
- 1.5 tablespoon chia seeds
- ½ cup + 1 tbsp non-dairy milk
- ¼ tsp cardamom or cinnamon (see notes)
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
Instructions
- Add the rolled oats, chia seeds, cardamom, maple syrup and milk of choice to a mason jar or container that can be sealed. Stir well, and place in the fridge. After 30 minutes, if you can, give it another stir to break up any clumps of chia seeds.
- Remove from the fridge, stir again and either enjoy it as it is, or top with fruit, jam, nuts or seeds.
Notes
- I've tested this recipe a few times, with different amounts of milk. The half cup plus one tablespoon gave a creamy texture. Adding more milk made it too soup-like for my taste. If you like a very thick pudding, you can reduce to half a cup of milk.
- Cinnamon can be used as a swap for cardamom, but is debated in terms of histamine level.
- Vanilla extract can also be used, if tolerated.
- Nutritional information is auto-generated and should be understood to be an estimate.
- non-dairy milks have various scores. Use the type that works best for you.
- cardamom scores 0, but has some notes, in French, that some varieties may not be well tolerated.
Maxine Waldburger says
Can you make in bulk and store, or will this increase the histamine load?
Claire says
I wouldn't personally store it due to potential histamine formation, but you could ask your dietitian for your personal dietary needs.